Private Leisure

May Top 10 List

2011-05-16T23:01:00.000-07:00

1.   Buffalo Bangers- CD-R and cassette demos
2.   Kuxan Suum tape
3.   DJ Screw- 3 N The Mornin' Pt. 2 (Blue)
4.   Christian Death- Only Theater of Pain
5.   Funereal Moon- Lucifer's Dagger
6.   Mincemeat or Tenspeed- Strange Gods
7.   Circle of Ouroborus- Streams
8.   Nirvana- Hormoaning
9.   The Cure- Wish
10. Slayer- Hell Awaits

Buffalo Bangers- CD-R and cassette demos

2011-05-16T22:54:00.000-07:00

Well, so much for my rule about not writing about bands/records that I'm planning on releasing. That flew right out the door when I obtained the demos of this amazing Atlanta four piece band, who I have been certifiably obsessed with for the last month or so. Of course, the Buffalo Bangers haven't actually agreed to let me release anything by them yet, but you bet your ass I've been hassling them about it, practically begging them in fact to do a record for PLI. They of course have remained cool as cucumbers and appear only fleetingly interested, much like any confident/competent artist would act when being madly sought after. You can't blame them for being smart.

So then, I did mention they were a band, but perhaps the significance of this statement was somewhat lost on some of you, so I'll spell it out: bands, in the traditional sense of the word, have become boring if not obsolete. There I said it. There are of course always exceptions, but speaking strictly in terms of who's been responsible for making the majority of music that has sounded vital and fresh in the last decade, it has not been bands; especially not rock bands. Instead, the most interesting sounds of recent times have come mostly from the laptop/drum machine wizards, the weirdo loners, and occasionally from the post-everything, deconstructionist type bands a'la Lightning Bolt, Wolf Eyes, Black Dice, etc.

So then, what's so special about the Buffalo Bangers, most definitely a 'rock' band in every sense of the word, that makes them stand out? Is it the clean surf style guitars layered over a gloomy goth rock influenced rhythm section? Perhaps it's the highly dramatic vocal performances which sound something like Kate Pierson of the B-52's channeling Danzig? Or maybe it's the lyrical content and overall aesthetic of the band, which is reliant upon highly personal astrological and religious imagery. Actually, it's all of these things.

While the band's center could probably be most closely linked to bands such as Christian Death or Siouxsie & the Banshees, they draw as much influence from disparate artists such as REM and Link Wray as they do from the tradition of goth punk. The result is a weird amalgamation of styles that's both conventional and unique, and which forces the listener to re-evaluate the significance of the restrictive genre pigeonholes so frequently relied upon to describe artists' sounds.

I guess maybe their sound isn't for everyone; if you're looking strictly for the mondo bizzaro, this may not be your bag. But for anyone interested in the progression of punk and goth rock into new and interesting, yet comfortably familiar territory, this band will certainly hit a nerve. With any luck, they'll soon have a record out courtesy of yours truly, so keep your eyes peeled. Until then, check them out on the web here.

Kuxan Suum- Kinich Ahau tape

2011-05-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

Successfully blending black metal and abstract psychedelia is a task frequently attempted, but unfortunately, all too often botched. One needs only to give a cursory listen to a band like Nachtmystium to hear how poorly such a combination of styles can be hobbled together. Of course, the mere novelty of such an idea makes music critics drool, and so they pass such half-assed bands off as brilliant, with little to no thought regarding the quality of the actual music. I mean, really, if I wanted to hear a band butchering Pink Floyd style 'classic rock', I'd just listen to, uh, well, probably Pink Floyd.

Luckily, Kuxan Suum, hailing from the blizzardly hell of Los Angeles, and part of the mysterious Black Twilight collective, exist to provide any would be LSD obsessed black metallars with a direction far superior to those worshiping at the disgraced altar of Waters and Gilmore. Consisting of one seventeen minute long track, Kinich Ahau, begins with a loan, ultra-delayed and reverbed guitar plucking single notes which carry out for what seems like forever, decaying over each other in swirling, almost nauseating, patterns, creating an ominous wall of free floating tones and dismal feedback. The effect is nothing short of entrancing, so much so in fact, that when the black metal portion of the song, which doesn't begin for nearly eight minutes, finally does kick in, it's almost unexpected, and honestly the least interesting part of the track as whole. That's not to say that the black metal part of the song isn't good...it's quite good actually, it's just that it pales in comparison to the song's more transcendentally inspired moments.
After the black metal interlude, the song returns to the esoteric psych style, this time pushing the hallucinatory guitar elements to such an extreme end, that it would make Eric Clapton, or whatever other bullshit guitar wanker you may favor, run screaming in terror. I first heard this track on the Worship Black Twilight comp. and then ordered this tape assuming there would be different material on it, but had none such luck. The song is so great I wasn't too upset or anything, though I do have one qualm with this release, and that is that it's a one sided tape. Someone please tell me, what the hell is the point of that? I mean, really, I can understand a one sided record, as it costs less to make, and requires only a moment to play over again. But a one sided tape? Why not at least repeat the program on both sides? This would save me the six minutes it takes for the ailing walkman which I run through my stereo receiver to rewind the cassette so I can play the song over again. While this may not sound like much of an issue, more than once I've had the experience of trying to play this tape for a friend, and had them distractedly lose interest while I cued it up. The fact that the tape has no markings on it makes it even more of a pain in the ass, as I can never tell which side is the one with music on it. I suppose I could mark the music side myself...but that's not the point!

Well, anyway, check out the Worship Black Twilight comp here which includes this track as well as an amazing jam by the mighty Arizmenda, and songs by four other bands ranging from decent to eh.

DJ Screw- 3 'N The Mornin' Pt. 2 (Blue)

2011-05-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

My favorite thing about being a music junkie, especially in this day and age, is that pretty much all the music that managed to survive into the 21st century, is now, and will likely always be, available in cyberspace. So, unlike in the past, if you missed out on a particular artist or record during their/it's heyday, you can always backtrack whenever you feel like it and rediscover something you may have ignored, written off, or just not been aware of in the past. Of course, there is also the argument that having constant acesss to free music is damaging in it's own way, and I'll be the first to admit it can be a bit overwhelming at times, but generally speaking, I'd say that having an entire galaxy of music options at my fingertips is much more of a blessing than a curse; my love for and obsession with this DJ Screw mixtape from 1996 is a perfect example of why.

I remember hearing about DJ Screw way back in 1999 while I was still in high school, shortly before he died. The descriptions of his style interested me immedaitely, though at the time there was no real way for me access his stuff. A few years later when I finally did have the chance to check his music out, I was largely unimpressed. I have no idea now what record I listened to or anything like that, but I remember thinking that the music sounded much more normal than I was expecting given the bizarre descriptions I had read regarding his style of mixing (slowed way down and chopped up). So for many years I just didn't bother with DJ Screw. I assumed that he probably had some great shit out there somewhere, but attemtping to wade through 200+ mixtapes to find it required far more time and energy than I was willing to spend. It actually wasn't until last year (2010) that I was finally able to begin to appreciate the genius of the "Screwed Up Click".

It was, funnily enough, an off-the-cuff post by a friend on facebook that instigated my new found interest and discovery. After a mention of DJ Screw in the aformentioned post, I commented that I'd never really been able to get into his stuff, and another friend quickly came to the rescue recommending the record currently being discussed. Ironically, I intially downloaded the wrong album (there are several '3 'N the Mornin' mixes apparently), though the one I got was also quite good. It featured a remix of Dr. Dre's classic "Nigga Wit a Gun" which had me smacking my forehead and cursing myself for having taken ten years to get around to DJ Screw within a matter of seconds.

After realizing I had gotten the wrong mixtape, I quickly went back for the recommended one; it didn't take long (maybe 2 weeks) for it to become my favorite hip-hop/rap album of all time. The record features mostly fairly obscure rappers from Houston, DJ Screw's home city, getting the ultimate chopped and screwed treatment. The mix opens with a warning to 'watch yo mutafuckin' screw' (screw in this sense referring to prescription strength codiene/promethazine cough syrup, a concoction which is highly coveted in the Houston scene for it's psychotropic effects), before seguing into an "Salin' da South" by rapper ESG. The song is alright, nothing really amazing, but it sets the tone for the album, and I really dig the combination of the dark, violent lyrics and the smooth, funky background which Screw layers over it.

The album really gets kickin' with the next song, "Smokin' and Leanin" a disorienting and seemingly unreal tribute to the combined effects of pot and codiene by the fantastically named Botany Boyz. The boyz mumble awkwardly over a repetitive and painfully slow backbeat peppered with psychedelic synth stabs, and a chrous which commands listeners to 'smoke! until you can't smoke no more' and 'lean! everybody in your dreams'. The song is definitely a stand out on the record, surpassed in quality only by the even stranger "Elbows Swangin'" which I'll get to in a moment.  After some very unnatural and bizarre sounding scratching, "Smokin' and Leanin'" turns into Al-D's "No Way Out", a mellow jam that laments the cycle of violence and poverty in ghetto life, before flipping the script and assuring anyone thinking about fucking with Al-D that they can plan on seeing 'ten of their best men with bullets in their chins'. Following this is a brief acapella track by Mack 10 mixed to the beat of "No Way Out".

After the Mack 10 track, is a song called "Serving a Deuce" and I can't remember who does it, but I don't really care since it's the only song on the mix that I regularly skip. "Sippin' Codiene" by Big Moe (who ironically died of health problems believed to be related to his long term abuse of codiene) follows, and segues perfectly into the album's true masterpiece: "Elbow's Swangin'".  Performed by Houston's .380, Screw slows the song nearly to a stop making the already extremely deep vocals on the chrous sound positively inhuman. Like on "Smokin' and Leanin" the vocals here wind up an odd mumble, barely if, ever, discernable, gruff and babbling. I haven't heard the original version of the song, but I would imagine that even without the chopped and screwed treatment it's quite the feat of weirdness.

So now, I'm at the start of the seventh paragraph on this record, and only halfway through the tracklist, and I'm wondering at this point if I should continue my song by song analysis. Though it's somewhat tempting, I think I'm gonna call it a day on this one. I will say that even though I like the first half slightly more, the second half of this album is certaily not slouchin'. My second side faves are the weirdly hilarious "High with the Blanksta" by Point Blank and the tough as shit "Pimp the Pen" by Lil Keke. But to get the scoop on those, you'll just have to track them down yourself. Here is a good place to start.

Christian Death- Only Theater of Pain

2011-05-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

Something interesting I’ve noticed about our information saturated and thoroughly post-modern society is that pretty much every musical genre that has been popular over the last four decades or so is currently trendy again to some degree. This is notable because it represents a major change in mass attitudes as in previous decades there were almost always a handful of musical styles that were popular and acceptable, and another handful that were nearly universally disdained (folk music in the 70’s, disco in the 80’s, cock rock in the 90’s, etc.). There are probably several reasons for the re-emergence of pretty much everything (perhaps western civilization has exhausted it’s share of good musical ideas?) though I’m sure one of them has to do with the amount of access we now have to free music.

Regarding the re-established credibility of basically every kind of popular music, I want it to be clear that I haven’t said (yet) that this is necessarily a good thing; I certainly don’t condone retro movements of any kind. However, I must admit, that it’s not all bad. If nothing else, the level of access makes the task of establishing and understanding the historical context of a specific genre, style, or artist significantly easier. For many, I imagine this is nothing short of a godsend. I know it certainly would have been for me growing up, as I’ve always been deeply interested in where musical styles evolved from, and how they came about, and I remember how tough it was digging to try and find out about the largely obscured past. So, while the modern obsession with musical trends of the past may not be doing much in the way of creating or promoting new or distinct music, when it comes to learning your history, it’s just fantastic.

So, what I’ve been trying to get to this whole time is that for many years, Christian Death were one of those bands that had been sort of canonized and everyone had heard of, but by the late 90s, ironically right around the time goths started popping up in every high school in America, many of their releases were out of print or difficult to come by. But now, over ten years later, they’re being revived and praised, and rightly so I might add, as the originators of ‘deathrock’, a barely extant subgenre which combines goth rock with hardcore punk. And I must say I’m quite glad, as this record puts the entire idea of ‘goth’ in perspective for me better than anything ever has, and by that I mean that this record is just amazing from start to finish, and I feel like I know now exactly what great goth music actually sounds like (and despite what the high schoolers will tell you, it’s not like Marilyn Manson or anyone in clown make-up).

As previously mentioned, the band’s style has a heavy dose of early SoCal hardcore melody (Rikk Agnew of the Adolescents was the guitarist on this record), complimented with very breathy, overly dramatic vocals, spooky, reverbed out guitars, and the occasional synth. The band also displays debts to less expected influences from time to time including funk, gamelan music, and tape collage. The lyrics address all manners of things sexual, deadly, and religious, with equal parts overwrought emotionality and twisted humor. The lyrics are actually one of my favorite things about this record, and it’s safe to say that is a major rarity.

In short, this record is damn near perfect if you’re into this type of thing (I’ve played it for many who certainly are not). So go steal it here.

Funereal Moon- Lucifers Dagger EP

2011-05-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

I don't know much about Funereal Moon. I know that they're a metal band of sorts, I know that they're from Mexico, I know that they've been around since at least the nineties, and I know that on their facebook page there are pictures of a loving couple in corpse paint posing with what appears to be their infant son. Beyond that, all there is is the music, and I can tell you with the utmost enthusiasm that the music is incredibly fucked up. Well, to clarify they've released five or six albums, most of which I haven't heard; but if the music on those albums is anything like the music on Lucifer's Dagger, rest assured it's as out there as music gets.

I refer to them as a metal band 'of sorts' because with the exception of one song on Lucifer's Dagger their music rarely breaches the realm of anything that could actually be considered metal. Instead they go about creating terrifying soundscapes which sound like a truly evil version of those 'spooky haunted house sounds' tapes that you got around Halloween when you were a kid. Slow and churning guitars and synths back up demonic incantations performed via screeching dual male and female vocals, lots of tortured screaming, and even the occasional outburst of sexual fury. Sometimes the instrumentation is very sparse, at other times it is overwhelming.

Perhaps the most obvious reference point for this kind of black metal inspired atmospheric "non-metal" is Abruptum, although FM really sounds nothing like them. Instead, FM take Abruptum's idea of creating a pure audio representation of evil into more interesting territory than their Swedish precursors did, choosing to forgo the 'angry monster trapped in the basement with the grand piano' vibe for a much more fascinating and aesthetically pleasing 'ancient Satanic sacrifice ceremony' type thing. I know that this kind of music isn't for everyone, but personally, I can't get enough of this weird-ass record and it's bizarre take on evil.
Check out their weird ass facebook page here.

Mincemeat or Tenspeed- Strange Gods

2011-05-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

Mincemeat or Tenspeed, the project of one guy from Philly (now living in Providence) named Davey Harms, is hands down my favorite live act of the last decade. Nevermind that he's literally performing musical alchemy, spinning gold from absolutely nothing before your very eyes, dude can seriously move the dance floor. Of course moving the dance floor is not something I usually care much about in an artist, but I consider Mincemeat or Tenspeed the exception. His records aren't too shabby either.
But what's all this about spinning nothing into gold? Well, the music of Mincemeat or Tenspeed is electronic, but made without the use of synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, drum machines, computers, or musical instruments. Instead he just runs out of an amp through about twenty or so effects pedals, then back into the amp creating a feedback loop that he can manipulate with the pedals. Although it may seem that creating music only through those particular means would be extremely limiting, the versality of his music is, in actuality, extraordinary and Strange Gods is, in my opinion, his opus.

I suppose I could go into detail about his sound, and how he actually manages to genre hop (punk, bluegrass, ballads) despite the lack of instruments necessary to imitate any existing genre, or how the very existence of his music is more concinvcing proof than any Apple i-gadget, that we are in fact finally living in the future, or maybe about the irony of the fact that perhaps the most original, exciting, and boundry breaking entity to emerge from the 'indie' underground in the last ten years was thought up and executed by someone who has no musical training whatsoever, and who started his project after giving up on the guitar out of frustration. I could do those things; but instead I'm just going to leave you with one of his videos and a link where you can buy Strange Gods (here). With music like this out there, flying cars have gotta be right around the corner.

Circle of Ouroborus- Streams

2011-05-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

This one is another LP I ordered from the fantastic Cocainacopia label/distro, which specializes in black metal, often of the extremely damaged variety (their first release was Dead Reptile Shrine's Burning Black Infinity double LP, and it doesn't get much more damaged than that). I decided on this record based on the recommendation of the dude that runs the operation, and I was not disappointed...but I was very, very, surprised by Circle of Ouroborus' style. Mere moments into the first song, it's clear that this band are not your average black metal band; most of the time their sound resembles post punkers like Chrome more than metal of any sort. The vocals are clean and layered with reverb and flanger, the drums simple and direct, never showy, never launching into anything like a blast beat, the guitars sharp and angular, the opposite of heavy. There are the occasional backing vocals in the black metal style, and the sometimes a riff with a bit of metal punch to it pops up, but they are pretty few and far between. The fact that this band has not only decided to try and establish themselves within the metal underground, but have also actually seemingly succeeded in doing so, is pretty damn amazing. Do yourself a favor and go buy their record here to find out for yourself how bizzare 'metal' had gotten.

Nirvana- Hormoaning

2011-05-16T08:20:00.000-07:00

Goddamn record store day. This year I knew I couldn't afford to buy anything so I decided to skip record store day and in order to guarantee that I wouldn't blow my pledge not to spend any money I decided to ride with some friends' band to a show they were playing in Alabama. Unfortunately, mere moments after arriving at the house where the show was to be held, we made our way to the record store right across the fucking street which was of course celebrating record store day. And the moment I laid eyes upon this limited eidtion record store special re-issue version of Nirvana's 92' Australian tour EP, Hormoaning, I knew I was gonna blow some cash. Goddamn record store day. But of course I don't regret buying it, and at this point, being a week late on the water bill hardly seems as important as having this gem in my vinyl collection.

In addition to containing my favorite cover Nirvana ever released (the Wipers' D-7) it also includes what are probably my two favorite Nevermind era outtakes, Aneurysm and Even in His Youth, the latter being perhaps the most unsettling song the band ever released. The rest of the EP is made up of two Vaselines covers (Son of a Gun and Molly's Lips) and a Devo cover (Turnaround) all three of which were later released on Incesticide. The Devo cover is pretty fantastic, and while I'm not a huge cover of the Vaselines covers (neither even come close to doing justice to the originals) I really ebjoy the way the fit into the context of the record over all.

I guess, given my tendency to turn my nose up at the overwhelming majority of mainstream music, it might be a little surprising to some people that I'm a Nirvana fan; but honestly I feel like anyone who is into punk rock and is too cool for Nirvana is a either an idiot or a prick. No link for this one; it is Nirvana after all, so you can probably find these tracks at Wal-Mart (but you of course should never buy your music there).

April Top 10 List

2011-04-22T23:05:00.000-07:00

1. Earl Sweatshirt- Earl
2. Tyler, the Creator- Bastard
3. Social Junk- Dirty Cloud
4. Exit Hippies- Record and Fantasy EP
5. K-Holes- s/t LP
6. Grotesque- Beyond the Black Gate demo
7. Bird Names- 20 Charters EP
8. Shitmat / Ladyscraper- Grungecore Vol. 1 split 7"
9. The Brentwoods- Singles Collection
10. Black Sabbath- Paranoid

Earl Sweatshirt- Earl and Tyler, the Creator- Bastard

2011-04-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

so, here's what's up: I got obsessed with Odd Future not long ago, when a friend tipped me off. I spent a pretty good amount of time writing about them, and right around the time I finished, I realized that not only was I way later to the party than I'd even realized, but that I was also adding to the saturation of pointless non-information regarding the group, something that bums me (and them) out. So, while I don't feel that completely deleting my piece is necessary (I did spend a fair amount of time on it), if you are going to read it, please be aware that it's outdated, contains no new information, and that my skills for describing hip-hop are turgid at best...also, I'm not concerned with fixing any editorial errors or misinformation that the piece may contain, as I'm just sick of fucking with it, and there is enough other shit out there regarding OF that you don't need me to find out what's going on. Ok, that's it.

I like to think that I am, to some degree at least, immune to orchestrated hype. Some people decide to check out an artist if they hear about them a handful of times; I on the other hand usually assume that any artist who's name I see everywhere has some asshole with a vested interest standing behind them and throwing money at everyone in sight to get them noticed, which I find quite tacky, and which just makes me assume that the artist in question hasn't actually earned anyone's attention, least of all mine since they can't seem to gain it simply on the merit of their efforts as ARTISTS. Furthermore, I don't read shitty corporate rock payola magazines like Spin, or shitty indie rock payola magazines like Death and Taxes or Under the Radar. I don't read Pitchfork either (except for the 'history of' type articles, cause come on, those rule!), though I really have nothing against them (at least they don't only review records by labels who buy ad space from them!), I just sort of assume that the music they cover is stuff that that's intended to appeal to the broadest swath of indie rockers possible, and that's just not me. If you've been keeping up, you know that my preferred way to find about new artists is to see them perform live. Beyond that, I download an album here and there, order many records completely unheard from labels that seem interesting, and rely on recommendations from friends and and a handful of music bloggers who don't write for their paychecks (look to your right).

I just re-read all that, and wow, I really sound like a jackass; it is all true though, and I do actually have a point that I'm trying to put out there, and that is this: Occasionally, and maybe even more often than occasionally as like I said I'm a bit out of the loop when it comes to 'popular music', there exists an overhyped artist who truly is unique, interesting, and worth taking seriously. In 1992 it was Nirvana. In the last decade it's been artists like Girl Talk and M.I.A. Right now, it's Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (or Odd Future for short...or Wolf Gang...or Golf Wang).

And, man are they ever overhyped! I don't mean that in the sense that their music doesn't warrant attention, it definitely does; it's just that everyone from NPR and the Wire to the aforementioned shitty corporate rock payola magazines, not to mention the entire blogosphere, has been covering them seemingly non-stop for months, re-printing the same shit over and over, leading to a bit of an information glut, and perhaps foreshadowing a backlash. I would venture to guess that anyone who follows hip-hop even fleetingly has heard quite the earful about them...shit, anyone who follows new music of any genre has probably heard of them. At this point you may be asking the question 'so then why are you writing about them?' Well, the answer to that is simply that I think they're great. I'll do my best to add something new to the proceedings, but in all honesty there doesn't seem to be a lot of ground left uncovered regarding these guys, so if you've already gorged, you might wanna skip ahead.

Assuming you haven't read anything about them, here's a very brief crash course: Odd Future is a large group (more than ten members) of MCs, DJs, and producers out of Los Angeles. With the exception of female producer / live engineer Syd the Kyd, Odd Future's members are very young men (many are still teenagers) who are into skateboarding, outspoken atheism, evil, and bands like Stereolab and the Liars. Until they began to be offered label deals earlier this year, every album the group had produced (the final total was eleven I believe) from solo records to all-inclusive mixtapes was made available for free on their website. To say that they don't fit very well into the world of popular music as it currently exists is a bit of an understatement, although this fact is something that the group actively strives to change by way of attempting to completely discredit most of popular music which they seem to have no issue frequently dissing for being either old and stale or lazy and soft. They also have some of the most highly scrutinized and abhorrent lyrics hip-hop has ever seen.

The two most prominent members of the crew thus far are OFWGKTA's insanely talented founder and official group leader Tyler, the Creator, and his adorably crude and foul mouthed teenage sidekick Earl Sweatshirt. Between the two of them, they spit enough misogyny (the joy of rape is a frequent lyrical theme), homophobia (Tyler often punctuates the ends of his rhymes with a menacing 'faggot', while Earl refers to the OF crew as 'fag damagers'), outright blasphemy (references to evil and Satan are abundant) and political incorrectness (ever heard of 'black nazis'? well, now you have) to make the offensive hardcore rap lyrics of yesteryear seem tame by comparison.

Their lyrical content has earned them no short list of enemies and detractors, and understandably so. As someone who personally knows people who have been fucked with for being queer and women who have been raped, I can personally attest that some of the things Odd Future say give me the big time creeps; BUT I also realize that what they are doing is making ART based on what they know and feel. Think about it like this: if N.W.A. was the product of tough, crime addled streets, police brutality, gang life, and exploitation, the members of Odd Future are the products of the post-modern sense of fractured identity, youtube, rape porn, and ingenuity. They are, if nothing else, the sons of post twentieth century American society, and, yes, what they are saying is repulsive; however, I am of the opinion that what really scares people about OF is that, like N.W.A. before them, they are speaking a truth that the majority of Americans just aren't ready to deal with or take responsibility for: the kids aren't alright, they're really fucking angry. Who's fault is that and how did they get the way they are? It's a complicated question to say the least, and it seems like many would rather get upset about it than ask questions.

Of course, as offensive as they can sometimes be, most of OF's lyrical crudeness must be taken with a grain of salt. They obviously don't actually keep women locked in their basements, burn down houses, or perform oral sex on corpses; meanwhile, their constant homophobia is quickly discredited when you learn that previously mentioned female crew member Syd the Kyd is openly gay. In a sense, their lyrical attempts to challenge and shock the status quo into disbelief are no different than when bands like the Sex Pistols and Throbbing Gristle brandished swastikas in the late seventies for the same purposes, and though OF obviously revel in the fact that their lyrics would scare the shit out of just about any suburban parent in the country, in the group's many non-music related videos on their youtube page, Earl and Tyler seem like the kind of goofy guys who would be really nice to your parents if they came to your house to hang out.

Perhaps it seems like I'm trying to defend the content of their lyrics, and maybe to some degree I am; I am after all, obviously quite the fan. But if nothing else, I feel like shunning Odd Future or targeting them as poster boys for what's wrong with society or hip-hop or whatever will only fuel their anger. Instead, I feel that if for no other reason, we should be listening to what they're saying so that we can learn from them. At this moment, whether they (or you) want to admit it or not, they are a microcosm of America's youth; turning our backs on them because we disapprove of them or refuse to try and understand them is a mistake. It's quite possible in fact, that such knee jerk reactions in the past had something to do with shaping their current attitudes.

I also feel like it's important to give them a chance to grow up a bit and accumulate a few more life experiences with which to inform their viewpoints (one of their favorite slogans 'kill people, burn shit, fuck school' reveals much about their youthful mindset, as artists over the age of about nineteen rarely, if ever, complain about school). There is no question that these kids are abnormally bright and talented, and the directions that they could go in are endless. During the late eighties, who ever could have imagined that Ice Cube would be starring in family films or that the Beastie Boys would progress from Budweiser worship and a giant hydraulic penis to becoming feminists, Buddhists, and vegans?

Finally, to paraphrase NPR's Frannie Kelley, the offensive content present in their lyrics is one of the least notable things about them, and if they weren't genuinely talented and original no one would care about the things they're saying anyway. So, let's get on to the music then shall we?

First up is Earl Sweatshirt. Unfortunately, Mr. Sweatshirt (who recently turned seventeen) is currently not with the group as he appears to be serving time in teenage purgatory due to parental intervention; despite this temporary setback however, the video for his first single (like his album, aptly titled 'Earl') has received over two-million youtube hits since it was posted in July of last year, and deservedly so. The video is an entrancing fever dream fantasy of illicit drug use and debauchery, blood and death, and the song is not too shabby either, as Earl, from the comfort of a barber's chair in a room full of disembodied doll heads, waxes poetic over an infectious, hard hitting bass groove, about among other things, putting the "ass in assassin" and consuming fried human remains mixed with shit

The content on the rest of the album gets even grimmer, though always has a subtle tongue in cheek feel making it somewhat difficult to get too upset by the lyrical content; in the track "Kill", for example, Earl inserts a verse describing a marathon three-way with Pamela Anderson and Billy Ray Cyrus during which he's served sandwiches by Miley Cyrus, as an amused Santa Claus and horrified Mrs. Claus look on.

There is no challenging the fact that Earl is gifted, supremely so in fact. Every single song on his record is a killer, and his ability to concoct witty and macabre rhymes and effortlessly connect the most far flung concepts imaginable rivals even that of Earl's hero, himself, Eminem. The production work, (mostly by Tyler) is all top-notch, and Earl's baritone flow is about as good as it gets in hip-hop today; imagine the smoothness of a rapper like Q-Tip combined with the non-stop belligerent aggression of someone like Method Man and you'll get a sense of what I'm talking about.

While it's obvious that Earl is a big fan of Eminem and models a good amount of his rhyming style after the Shady one, he has a much more agreeable voice (i.e. he doesn't sound like a circus clown on helium) and is, in my opinion, much more charismatic; Eminiem has always come off to me as a bitter, middle aged loser full of self loathing and doubt. Earl on the other hand sounds like an MC confidently standing at the edge of greatness with no lingering doubts and nothing to prove. Considering his age, he certainly has plenty of time and opportunity to make the world his, and as soon as he arrives back on the scene, I have no doubt he will do so quite swiftly. In the meanwhile I highly suggest that anyone with even a slight interest in hip-hop immediately procure his album here.

Next up is Tyler, the Creator's debut album Bastard, which is different in as many ways as it is similar to Earl. It's most similar in the sense that Tyler and Earl both adopt the same 'psycho stream of consciousness' style of rhyming, burning through taboos like nobody's business. The biggest difference however is that Tyler mixes Earl's mean-spirited prankster vibe with highly personal themes of introspection, depression, alienation, and suicide. At times it can all come off a bit heavy handed, though for the most part the lyrics are balanced and honest enough, and the songs good enough that it works.

If Earl is the equivalent of OF's Method Man, Tyler is both the group's RZA and Ghostface Killah. He's like RZA in the sense that he is the one pulling the strings on everything, producing beats and leading the crew with no uncertain confidence and swagger; he is like Ghostface in the sense that his spitfire flow is immediately stunning and propelled by ultra obscure and off the wall references packed into bizarre and densely composed rhyme schemes. Yes, I know the Wu-Tang comparison is very lazy and played out, but it works for me in trying to give an idea of what Odd Future actually sounds like since I'm not very familiar with the process of describing the auditory details of hip-hop the way I am with describing such details for other kinds of music I enjoy.

Bastard's title track, which opens the record, is undoubtedly the most honest and moving hip-hop song I've ever heard; essentially a tirade against an absentee father, the track also covers traditionally un-discussed subjects within hip-hop such as being bullied, peer pressure to be sexually active, and feelings of worthlessness and depression. When he gets to the line "I created OF because I feel we're more talented than forty year old rappers talking about Gucci with kids they haven't seen in years" it always gives me the shivers. The rest of the album finds Tyler frequently spitting angrily at everyone in sight over tracks that range from dirgey to jazzy and is also really, really good.

Odd Future is certainly not for everyone, though many, including myself, feel that they may be poised to de-legitimize 'soft-rap' the same way Nirvana de-legitimized hair metal, practically overnight. This could of course simply be wishful thinking, or even foolish thinking. I certainly don't want the next 'generation spokesperson' to be a faux homophobic rapist, even if it is just a character or just a joke. I know that I know how to separate art from reality, but when it comes to others, I'm not as confident in their abilities to do so. Did I just say I'm better than other people? Maybe. But regardless of all that, as far as pushing hip-hop forward into fresh, new, and fascinating territory, Odd Future's competition at the moment is virtually non-existent; they ARE the most exciting hip-hop group in the world right now, and if that is something that matters to you, you owe it to yourself to give them a listen.

If you think you can handle it, here is the place to be.

Social Junk- Dirty Cloud

2011-04-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog, I decided it would be unseemly to use this platform to hype the records I was releasing...I mean ya know, not that I couldn't mention them at all or whatever (click here!), but I created this outlet to talk about music that I'm personally enjoying, not records that I have some sort of interest in promoting. Well, this particular entry on the list may mean the end of that, but it's ok considering this album came out way back in 2007, and I've been jamming it on and off since then.

So, when I heard that plans to press this one up on wax had fallen through, I stepped up to take the helm. Now I may not even be releasing this particular record anyway, maybe something else, me and SJ is still talking, but no matter what happens, the record probably won't see the light of day til December or something, so I guess it doesn't matter, cause you'll have forgotten all about this by then....

For those not in the know, Social Junk is a band reigning originally from Huntington, West Virginia (now split between WV and Philly) made up of the core of Noah Anthony (currently rippin' down walls and gettin' folks sweatin' with his Night Burger project) and Heather Young (aka HNY, currently giving children nightmares with her sparse, ghostly spirit invocations) with occasional auxiliary members here and there. The band actually began as a standard four piece rock set up in 2002, but then evolved into some sort of mutant hybrid of new age folk music, shouting, scant percussion, and warbling noise, sounding frequently a little too straight for hardcore noise freaks, yet way too fucked up for the rockers....I first saw them in 2005, while wild man Zack Kouns (who is possibly the re-incarnation of wild man Wild Man Fischer) was still a member of the group, where they improvised a fantastically bizarre set, utilizing all kinds of gadgets I had never seen before, and shouting incomprehensibly while a slow groove rumbled far beneath the surface. Since then I've probably seen the band at least fifty times (in the interest of full disclosure: one of my previous bands did tour with them in 2008), and still they continue to amaze me.

But we're talking about records here, not shows. So what's up with SJ on record? Well, it depends. Their pre-2007 output runs the gamut from relatively straight ahead rock and folk, to drilling harshness and long winded atmospheric spook jams. Some of it is great, some of it is unlistenable; but while the band's earliest material occasionally lacks in ear-appeal, it's existence is actually quite important if only for the fact that it laid the groundwork for the two fantastic records they released in 2007 after reconciling their contradictory musical tendencies into one serious monster of a band. The first was Offering, the second, Dirty Cloud. What changed, you ask? Well, gone are the meandering blowouts of 2006's Trailer Witch and the dry muck of 2005's Champs, replaced instead with meticulously planned and orchestrated SONGS. (Also in the interest of full disclosure: most of the rest of this piece was taken from a write-up I penned back in December of 2007. chalk it up to laziness).

It's hard to talk about Dirty Cloud without mentioning Offering; whether the band intended it or not, I very much consider the albums companion pieces, and if Offering is some sort of sick desert nightmare in which you get sand in your eyes and your house burns down (and it most certainly is), Dirty Cloud is nothing if not it's somber afterthought, coming off like one final stroll through the wasteland that used to be your sanity. Not nearly as as ugly as it's predecessor, many of the songs, such as the nine-minute 'Bloodletting', instead of building into massive wasteland proportions cruise to a peaceful warm place, offering droning, uneasy comfort instead of the violent bone-shattering aggression present on Offering. Additionally, Young's angelic vocals are more prominently featured, while Anthony's vocals are much calmer in general and often carry heavy effects processing. The album still has it's share of noisers of course, 'Lands or Sands' sounds like someone trying to yell at you from across the bridge in a panic inducing traffic jam and 'Ramblin' Pines' sounds like the support beams holding that bridge snapping as easily as a rubber band while AM radio plays, barely audible on your car stereo; overall however, Dirty Cloud tends to hover somewhere above the melee like some barely visible glow through the, uh, clouds (yeah I know, real creative descriptive writing huh?).

Anyway, I think there is always something to be said for an album that you can create and maintain your own concept around independent of the artist's vision. Both Offering and Dirty Cloud (perhaps my all time faves by SJ, for sure both in the top three, which ain't no joke when considering the band has like twenty or something out there) are such records, and the creepy crud that they shore up in my mind freaks me out pretty hard, which is why I love them so much. Highly recommended to anyone with an open mind. To obtain music, write to the band here, then go check out Noah's rad tape label, R.T. Champs here.

Exit Hippies- Record and Fantasy EP

2011-04-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

According to one Mr. Stuart Scharder, who is, if not currently the world's most imminent, then certainly at least currently the world's most interesting punk rock scholar, the hardcore scene in Japan has undergone some very odd and unexpected changes over the last decade; in short, all kinds of noisy Japanese crust punk and d-beat bands have begun doing something that has long been regarded as anathema by many in their circles: they've been fucking with the formula.

Depending on what you're into this could be either a very good or very bad thing. If you haven't heard enough bands who attempt only to rehash the sounds of Discharge, Conflict, Rudimentary Peni, or whoever, then this sucks for you, as you're now relegated only to the hundreds of bands and thousands of records previously released in those bands' styles. If, on the other hand you're like me and think that the idea of a crusty Japanese hardcore group who's members moonlight as club DJs, and who mix techno beats into their totally over the top distorted noise-punk, sounds like the most unbelievably rad thing you can possibly imagine then you friend, are in luck, because that is exactly who/what the Exit Hippies are. They call it 'raver-noise crust'; I call it brilliant.

To put this insanity into context, it's helpful to note that around the time Anthrax and Public Enemy were inspiring legions of misled youths to start rap-rock bands, over in the UK, Top 40 dance-pop group the KLF unleashed a collaboration far stranger than Bring the Noize, when they elected to record a version of their hit single 3 AM Eternal with grind/crust band Extreme Noise Terror. The resulting track, much like Bring the Noize, was a much better idea on paper than on wax, but nevertheless the damage was done, and adolescents all over the world were exposed to an unwholesome punk hybrid powerful enough to impact their young minds with the idea that convention should be regarded as something to trample upon rather than adhere to; presumably, the members of the Exit Hippies were amongst them.

Regarding the music on this here piece o' wax, (as well as the music of the Exit Hippies, and their off shoot the Exit Hoppers, in general) I feel compelled to give warning that the combination of crust punk and house beats doesn't really come off in the way you're likely imagining, that is at least if you're imagining tight riff based d-beat hardcore with occasional underlying slick, tempered bass thumps to back it up. No, what we have here is much more primal and damaged than anything like that, retaining only the most meager elements of the genres which inspired it. For example, on the A-side of Record and Fantasy, a few seconds of a somewhat traditional sounding hardcore song quickly morphs into a stew of confused screaming and grunting, noisy guitar (which rarely if ever plays a discernible riff), piercing feedback, and rhythmically thumping medium paced club beats. The B-side again launches briefly into vaguely familiar sounding punk territory, before awkwardly segueing into a synth laden hardcore jam so badly recorded it's almost completely incomprehensible; in short it is a really, really, really, good record by a band that is likely currently one of the world's weirdest.

I shouldn't have to say this, but just so you can't say I didn't warn you, be aware that this shit is not casual listening, and assuming that you can make it all the way through this record, by the time it's over you're likely to need a drink of water and a nap....I know I do....but, if you're reading this and drooling over the possibilities of what this record could hold in store for you, you can buy it here or check out the band's myspace here. Also, if you'd like to hear more about the movement spawning mutant Japanese noise-core bands from someone who knows significantly more about this kind of stuff than I do, I highly encourage you to check out the second installment of Shit-Fi Radio here.

K-Holes- s/t LP

2011-04-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been seeing the HoZac label popping up in a lot of places, so I decided to check out a few of their releases. I was specifically interested in the K-Holes after reading a review (don't remember where) of their LP which likened their sound to the Birthday Party, a comparison that tends to get my attention; their fantastic band name and cover art just sweetened the deal. At the time I ordered the record (which I thoroughly enjoyed and will talk more about in a moment), Hozac was offering this Spring batch bargain deal that included the LP and three 7"s of bands I'd never heard of called X-Ray Eyeballs, Women in Prison, and Spider Fever, so I decided to opt for that in hopes of hearing some neat bands...

Unfortunately there were a few things I didn't realize, primary among them being the fact that Hozac is basically just a garage punk label...not that there is anything wrong with that if it's your bag, but I've gotta say, it takes a pretty damn interesting garage punk band to get me up in the morning these days, and none of these three were cutting it...the bands weren't bad or anything like that, they were just kind of average sounding rock bands; and while sloppy playing and lo-fi recording both might seem pretty cliche at this point, I certainly feel like they would've lent some personality to these records...I dunno, I mean I'm not saying I want anyone to feign that they don't know how to play or record, but I suppose maybe the fact that I listened to enough adequately recorded three-chord punk songs when I was teenager has just led me to consider efforts that continue to write in that particular style as rather pointless...

What's especially ironic about this is that I'm about to tell you how good the K-Holes record is because of how much it sounds like the Birthday Party, a band that hasn't existed for nearly thirty years; of course it's not totally the same, and I could go on about how compared to the number of bands that have tried to sound like the Ramones or the Stooges, there have been a mere handful of bands that show direct influence from the Birthday Party, or about how much more 'out there' sounding bluesy swamp rock is than pogo punk, but the truth is, the level of idol worship being displayed by the K-Holes here is a little bit extreme...I mean they really, really sound like the Birthday Party, so much so that one day when I was listening to the record a friend actually thought it was the Birthday Party.

I of course enjoyed the record because, you guessed it, I enjoy the Birthday Party. There are some songs on the B-side of the record that are in a very different, punkier, almost jangly style, and they help to break up the monotony of the doom and gloom just fine, but I'm not sure how well I would've responded to them had they stood alone on a 7" rather than in the context of the album...anyway, if I've got my facts straight, the K-Holes are comprised of members of some other bands that sound different, though I couldn't tell you who any of them are or what they sound like. I wouldn't mind hearing more from the K-Holes, but would like to hear them add a few more discernible influences to their pallet on future recordings...meanwhile, if you're really into bands that sound like the Birthday Party, then I highly recommend buying this record here.

Grotesque- Beyond the Black Gate demo

2011-04-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

Considering that there has been a metal release on every list I've made so far, you may be surprised to learn that I'm not much of a death metal fan. There are exceptions here and there of course: I'm a pretty huge fan of almost everything Carcass ever recorded and I also really dig some of the earlier stuff by Death, Autopsy, Obituary, and Incantation to name a few. For the most part though, death metal has always just kind of bored me. It's not that I haven't tried...I mean really, if I had a nickel for every time I've attempted to discover the supposed magic in Altars of Madness or Legion (highly touted classics of the genre by Morbid Angel and Deicide respectively), I'd have at least a few bucks...

Yet, for some reason, when I learned of Daniel Ekeroth's book Swedish Death Metal, which covers the evolution of death metal in Sweden during the late eighties and early nineties from a barely extant sub-genre to a cultural phenomenon, I had to have it. I reasoned to myself that this book might be the thing that finally helps me really understand death metal's intended appeal; the fact that I've been a fan of Swedish metal gods At the Gates for almost ten years didn't hurt either. In the end however, let's just say that while the book was an interesting read, most of the music I followed up on didn't impress me much. Again there were some exceptions; I immediately took to early records by bands like Grave and Liers in Wait for example, but the crown jewel of my Swedish death metal download spree was this three song demo released in 1989 by Gothenburg based band Grotesque (a band which actually featured future founding members of both At the Gates and Liers in Wait).

It doesn't take much to explain what excites me about this release: the first song on it is uniquely bizarre and probably the most psychedelic death metal song I've ever heard. All the genre staples are present of course, as there is certainly no shortage of too fast drumming, growling vocals, or down-tuned guitar; but it's the way that these elements are put together that makes the song truly amazing. The drums seem to be in their own world most of the time, speeding up and slowing down regardless of what the other instruments are doing; the bass plugs away at some strange slide riff while the guitars float tunelessly above it all sounding at times more like distant sirens than what they actually are; over it all, some creep growls in a way I've heard and been unimpressed by a thousand times before, though hearing it over this type of weirdly insane cacophony is definitely new.

The other two songs on the demo are okay I suppose, but neither one comes close to the inspired lunacy of the first. Similarly, when I followed up on more music by Grotesque, it was also unfortunately just mediocre.

So then, before you ask, yes, I am recommending this band and this recording on the basis of just one really good song. Maybe you think that's dumb? Well, listen to the fucking song, then get back be me. Get it here.

Bird Names- 20 Charters EP

2011-04-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

Another month, another list, another Bird Names record. If nothing else, I suppose this provides some insight into how much I actually listen to this band (hint: it's a lot). 20 Charters is a 10" EP which, if I understand correctly, came out of the same sessions as the album On Opaque Things. This EP however at least in terms of sheer abstruseness and fuck-all attitude is by far the most confusingly deranged output the band have ever released; for me, 20 Charters is like the holy grail of the Bird Names catalog.

Sounding something like what I imagine a stripped down version of the band playing in a freight car full of hyperactive kids on a bumpy train ride to the sanitarium would sound like, the hooks and odd changes are all still there on this record, but the psychedelic aspects usually employed by the group seem to have shifted towards a more drug-damaged (rather than drug-assisted) vibe. Moments which might signal momentary calm or a restrained approach on other records, instead become twisted into grinning toothless homages to the indulgence of nihilistic freedom and temporary psychopathy. It is not an easy listen, and perhaps for some not a pleasant one...in a way it sometimes seems like the darkest output the band has ever released, but that's likely only because of the extent to which the band goes about deconstructing their style to make it sound, for lack of a better word, wrong.

I don't know, maybe that all came out wrong...the record isn't upsetting or unsettling in any way...just really strange, even by Bird Name's oddball standards...but on the other hand, if 20 Charters was a person, you probably wouldn't choose to sit next to them on the bus....if you think you're worthy of the quest, buy it direct from the band here.

Shitmat / Ladyscraper- Grungecore Vol. 1 split EP

2011-04-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

So called 'breakcore', as in the all encompassing non-genre which refers to just about anything with a club beat (be it deconstructed or not) that happens to be too strange or aggressive to really be passable (in the U.S. at least) to either the hardcore Ecstasy and glowstick burnouts or the younger, much hipper (and more boring) Daft Punk fans, is something I've been interested in for awhile. Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff I've checked out is hit and miss, and honestly I don't feel that I've ever been able to penetrate the surface, despite having tried a handful of times. Remember my issues with death metal a section or two back? Same kinda shit. Also like death metal however, there are the exceptions, and Shitmat and Ladyscraper, happen to be two of them.

Although their sounds are perhaps seemingly similar to the non-electronic music tolerant ear, the things that grabbed me individually about each of these two artists upon first hearing them were quite disparate. Ladyscraper's compositions are usually quite fast and noisy, often sampling metal guitar riffs, and using dark, sometimes violently themed vocal samples. The phrase 'overbearingly aggressive' may be a suitable description. When I listen to his music, it imbues the same state of mind in me as if I were to be listening to say, Reign in Blood...it's no vacation, but if I'm merging on to the Interstate, holy shit, you better watch out!

Shitmat on the other hand has mastered the very rarely well executed art of combining interesting music with a sense of baiting humor that doesn't taint the proceedings. The first time I ever heard his music, the phrase 'cultural abuse' stuck in my head (note: I was probably high) due to the nearly endless stream of recognizable pop culture related samples (musical and otherwise) featured in his songs (despite this, Girl Talk is not an accurate reference point). Beyond sticking it to mainstream culture, Shitmat is also well known for gleefully skewering the electronic music subculture in which he's most well known, frequently challenging both artists and followers by embracing taboos or exaggerating cliches, always with tongue planted firmly in cheek, if not pointed straight out at you.

So then, suffice it to say that when a friend got me this split 7", which features both artists remixing Nirvana songs, for my birthday last year, I was quite, quite excited; nor was I disappointed. Although both sides are great, I like the Ladyscraper remix of Scentless Apprentice slightly less, mostly because he decided to add his own vocals over the originals (on the other hand though, how many artists in the breakcore scene actually bother to sing over their tracks?). Aside from the vocals however, the remix is pretty much perfect. When the hard bass beats following the song's original drum intro come in, the effect is beyond heavy, always taking an unsuspecting listener by surprise.

The Shitmat side, a hard house style remix of Negative Creep, is practically perfect. It's not quite as harsh as the Ladyscraper track, containing more of a danceable beat. The way Shitmat approaches the original tune is also quite different, as he uses it much more as a piece to build a larger work around, than as a song to be 'covered' (beyond LS's insane added beats and vocals, his remix mostly follows in the pattern of the original song). Maybe it's because I already know how witty and subversive Shitmat is, or maybe it's just the nature of the thing itself, but in addition to the intrinsic value this track has, it also strikes me as utterly hilarious. Maybe it's because I don't view it as an unlikely possibility that hordes of misguided former frat jocks that bought Nirvana records in the early nineties and have now (de-)evolved into alcoholic, suburban, middle aged club goers would happily dance their asses off to this remix of their favorite "jam" from high school without any sense whatsoever of self reflection or self awareness. I'm guessing that Shitmat has visualized that image in his head at some point as well...Cheers to that.

Order it here.

The Brentwoods- Singles Collection

2011-04-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

It's weird; though I've just recently discovered the Brentwoods, my knowledge of bands with which they shared members, former members, and acquaintances stretches back nearly a decade and a half to when I picked up the Got a Record LP by San Francisco garage punkers the Rip-Offs. The Rip-Offs played a sort of simple/poppy, style of garage rock, not too tight, but not over the top loose and wild either, and sang songs about shoplifting and spurning the advances of unattractive women. The cover art featured the four band members standing in a line-up at the police station all dressed in black and wearing wrestling masks. At the time, I thought that record was the be-all, end-all shit, and in fact, I still have it and throw it on from time to time.

Despite my affection for the the Rip-Offs however, my enthusiasm for their particular brand of garage punk was dealt a significant blow several years later when I came across the band from which they were descended, a much dirtier and more damaged garage band called Supercharger. Like the Rip-Offs, Supercharger were great at penning hilariously juvenile lyrics (example: "You don't have to tell your dad / Hey, I want it bad") and great, memorable chorus hooks; unlike the Rip-Offs, Supercharger created an intensely sweaty and tinny racket which constantly sounded on the verge of completely falling apart; their instruments almost never sounded tuned in any 'proper' manor, and their vocals were much closer to the tone deaf grunts and shouts of Louie Louie than the vocal harmonies utilized by their offspring. I was once again smitten.

The way the Brentwoods tie into all this is that after Supercharger broke up and one of the members started the Rip-Offs, the other two members started the Brentwoods. And ironically enough, as much as Supercharger immediately blew the Rip-Offs out of the water for me, the Brentwoods have now had exactly that same effect on my opinion of Supercharger! Don't get me wrong, I still love Supercharger (I still love the Rip-Offs too for the record), but the debauched delinquent insanity of the Brentwoods makes them sound almost tame by comparison.

In addition to their seemingly manic energy, I suppose the most immediately distinguishing feature of the Brentwoods versus the other two aforementioned bands, is their female vocalist, Patty. Her singing is always way too high in the mix, and she sounds sort of like an eight year old professing her love of ice cream at the top of her lungs. Beyond that, there is also a farfisa in there sometimes, and the songwriting style is actually much poppier than the Rip-Offs, but the playing and the mix are so cruddy it usually comes out sounding even too fucked up to discern. To give a bit of context, I would imagine there are plenty of pop-punkers who love the Rip-Offs, but would run screaming from the overwhelming lunatic din of the Brentwoods. Add to the equation lyrics which are pretty much only ever about partying in the Buri Buri, an obscure neighborhood in South San Francisco, and you have a band after my own heart, and one that manages to make most other garage bands seem square.

My personal favorite record in this collection is the Go Get Bent EP, but they're all great. Unfortunately, I didn't realize when I downloaded this gem from soulseek that all of the Brentwoods music is out of print. This means that the "collection" doesn't actually exist in any form, so I can't provide a link for it. It's a bummer, I know. But, never fear, I'm not letting it go that easily; instead you can grab their only full length album, the criminally obscure, Fun in South City, which is also incredibly sick, here. Enjoy, and I'll see you all at the Buri Buri party!

Black Sabbath- Paranoid

2011-04-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

Though I actually own a vinyl copy of this killer, my most recent love affair with Paranoid has been due to the presence of a CD copy that inhabits one of the two cars I drive from time to time. And if you thought I was at a loss for words when trying to discuss Killing Joke a couple months back, I have even less to say about Black Sabbath. I mean, really, what can I say? How about this: War Pigs, Planet Caravan, Electric Funeral, Hand of Doom, Fairies Wear Boots, and Rat Salad are six of the best songs ever, ever, ever. If I had to pick a fave, I'd go for Electric Funeral, but let that say nothing about the absolutely unimpeachable quality of the other above listed jams on this record...I suppose the fact that I always skip Iron Man and Paranoid due to the fact that it's impossible for me to enjoy them following years of their unseemly desecration within pop culture sort of bums me out (at this point I can't even tell if those songs are good or not), but the album works just fine without them in my opinion so it's no biggie. This record is classic rock 101, except unlike most of the shit inhabiting that sad musical ghetto of a genre, it's actually really good. So no, you don't get a link for it. If you don't already own it, just go steal it from your dad; but don't be surprised when he comes looking for it, cause he probably still uses the gatefold to de-seed his pot.

March Top 10 List

2011-03-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

1. Blanche Blanche Blanche- Talk Out Loud 7"

2. Peaking Lights- 936

3. Sleep- Sleep's Holy Mountain

4. Brainbombs- Urge to Kill

5. Velvet Underground- White Light/White Heat

6. Pax Titania- Cult of the Colonist

7. Bird Names- Sings the Browns

8. Christine 23 Onna- Acid Eater

9. 45 Grave- Black Cross 7"

10. Vaselines- Way of the Vaselines

Blanche Blanche Blanche- Talk Out Loud 7"

2011-03-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

I came across this single by Vermont based weirdos Blanche Blanche Blanche while checking, 7 Inches several times a day, impatiently waiting for the Trophy Wife EP to get reviewed (it eventually did and I was very happy). Before reading even a word, I was immediately taken with the cover art, a washed out color copy of a grainy photo bearing an ancient looking synth sandwiched between the bored expressionless faces of the two band members. I was also very into their name, which I felt was so dumb it crossed into brilliance, and the fact that they had inexplicably included the dumb/brilliant name twice on the record cover.

I read the review, which made the record sound pretty good, and so, being as I was, already quite impressed with the tone of the visual aesthetic, I decided to check out the video that had been made for the A-Side track, Talk Out Loud. The video was great, (obviously shot and edited on VHS, it echoed the tone of the record cover nicely), but the song itself was even better. The arrangement of this track is so minimal that the first time I listened to it, I honestly thought for sure that at any moment slick beats programmed on Ableton or ProTools would kick in in an effort to 'complete' the sound and prepared myself for disappointment. After the hook (which is instantly addictive) played through for the second time, I started to get excited, and said out loud in my head "If shitty beats don't ruin this in a second, I have to buy it immediately". A few moments later, the song ended. No shitty beats. I hurriedly started the song over again and opened a new tab in my browser so I could listen to it while I ordered the record. I probably listened to it ten more times that night alone.

I suppose the closest reference point to describe the duo's music would be new wave, though while it's obvious that parts of their style have that influence, they are considerably more obtuse than a band like say, Devo, who while relatively odd, were still for the most part just putting their own idiosyncratic spin on guitar based rock. Blanche Blanche Blanche does not play guitar based rock. The instrumentation instead is apparently made up only of layered synths, and sounds just slightly more modern than the demo on the battery powered keyboard you got for your birthday in 1988. On Talk Out Loud, garbled arpeggio loops set the backdrop, complimented by the occasional melody played on the synth's organ setting, as both members sing in voices which are similar in tone to the puzzling expressions they display on the cover. Sarah (the female member of the band) half-whispers rhythmically before moving into a more traditional, but restrained, pop vocal style during the rad hook. Zach (the male member) sings in a kind of weird effeminate robot voice, not entirely unlike that of C3P0 from Star Wars.

The lyrics on Talk Out Loud are, as far as I can tell (remember, some of them are nearly whispered), about feelings of anxiety and social awkwardness. They are, I feel, as equally compelling as the music itself, featuring totally bizarre metaphors that I don't really get, such as: "When I was in the shredder / I had a shred of respect" and "Can't I believe the loaded gun? / There's nothing in it".

The B-Side, Water to Wine, is a more down tempo affair and as a result, it isn't quite as dynamic or catchy as Talk Out Loud, but it's still quite good and thankfully in no way resembles a throwaway track put in place just to back up the single.

Apparently BBB have been turning some heads, as according to their label, they have been featured on Pitchfork and in the French version of Vogue. I don't read either one, but I'm glad to see a really neat band getting some well deserved attention from entities that will no doubt increase their visibility.

You can buy the record here and check out their videos here.

Peaking Lights- 936

2011-03-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

Peaking Lights, of Madison Wisconsin, have evolved a very odd course over the last five or so years...the band is made up of lovely couple Aaron (formerly of defunct Bay Area drone maestros Rahdunes), and Indra (an ex-member of fried new-wave cyborg geniuses the Numbers). A friend turned me on to the band several years ago with their first release (I think), the Clearvoiant cassette EP on Night People. It was a fantastic little piece of music and one that I still throw on fairly often.

The sound of Clearvoiant is that of a band hidden by shadows; the songs are mellow folk and synth numbers and the music is very peaceful and relaxing, but it always seems like you're hearing the band play from the other side of a wall or from a room down the hall; somehow the music remains barely audible no matter how loudly you play it. This effects the listening experience in that it forces one to either tune in closely or not at all. If you were, say, reading a book the first time you listened to it, though the overall feeling of the sounds you were hearing would likely still come across as warm, you might not even realize there were actual songs.

After jamming Clearvoiant for months, I was quite excited when the band released their first full length LP, Imaginary Falcons, also on Night People. This record is similar to Clearvoiant in that it finds the band continuing to employ the less is more strategy, creating music that is both warm and sparse. However, Imaginary Falcons also sees the band taking massive steps in several different directions. While Clearvoiant had relied mostly upon simple guitar and keyboard melodies buried in fuzz to make it's point, this record introduces several stylistic oddities seeming perhaps to have manifested due to long term obsessions with (I'm guessing) Prince Buster, France Gall, Syd Barrett, and astrology.

Of course that feeble list of references which this record brings to mind really comes nowhere near an accurate description of what it actually sounds like even if you think you have an idea of what all those things mixed together might sound like... How could you possibly account for the the dry and tinny sounding drum machine loops of 'Wedding Song' or the terrifying last few minutes of 'News News' which sounds like nature attempting to wipe you off the face of the Earth? Or what about the completely fucked up Everly Brothers on heroin vibe of 'All the Good Songs Have Been Written'? How could you explain that one?

Imaginary Falcons is one weird record for sure, and a fucking great one at that. But I digress. Wasn't this supposed to be about the new Peaking Lights album, 936? Well, I've been trying to build up to that. I suppose since I've been into this band for awhile now and 936 is such another massive leap for them, I feel that putting the band's history into context helps me make better sense of the new record.

So what is 936 all about? Well, it certainly isn't sparse; the minimal arrangements have been replaced by electronic tribal/tropical sounding beats (reminiscent of 'Wedding Song' from Imaginary Falcons, but much more textured), massive dub style bass lines, weaving organ and synth melodies, and trippy ska/reggae influenced guitar work. The vocals are no longer bogged down under layers of effects and the lyrics are (for the most part) no longer vague and difficult to comprehend; Indra's voice soars as she emits genuinely heartfelt, if not inspiring lyrical gems such as "All the sun that shines, shines for you" or "you are burning like a campfire / wonderful / wonderful".

The overall result sounds something like psychedelic disco for new age healers, and honestly I wasn't quite sure what I thought of it at first. While I was glad that the band decided to made 936 as far removed from Imaginary Falcons as that record was from it's predecessor, the sound just didn't do it for me initially. I missed the sparseness, the mangled weirdness and inexplicable turns. This album is after all, unlike Imaginary Falcons, an exercise in trying to perfect a specifically cultivated style, even if said style is not at once identifiable.

But after a few spins this record really began to grow on me; the song writing is great, catchy as hell, and there are plenty of weird lingering subtleties to pick up on through repeated listens. I knew I dug it when the songs began to pop into my head unexpectedly. Usually if I'm not sure how I feel about a piece of music I assume that getting it frequently stuck in my head and it not annoying me means that I probably like it despite whatever reservations I may have previously harbored regarding it's possible shortcomings. These songs have been stuck in my head on a near constant basis for weeks now.

It is worth noting that on the band's Facebook page they have their genre listed as "reggae"; I find this very interesting. While the record is heavily influenced by reggae and dub elements, I feel the overall sound is a pretty far cry from what most individuals would generally consider to constitute either genre; given that, it seems pretty ballsy for two white folks living in Wisconsin in this day in age to outright refer to their weird, psychedelic indie rock as reggae. Of course, while some bands might exploit such a classification for the sake of misguided ironic humor, I really don't think that was Peaking Lights' intention; I believe that they really were trying to make their own version of reggae, and they actually did a pretty amazing job. In the often shameful arena of reggae re-interpretation by white people, I'd say Peaking Lights are at least up there with the Slits and certainly better than the Clash in most cases (but not 'Guns of Brixton', that song is the shit).

I'm looking forward to jamming this album on the regular for the next few months straight as this music has summer written all over it. It really does seem like it would be the perfect soundtrack for just about any fun summer activity I can think of: hanging out at the beach, road tripping with the windows down, having a picnic, eating an ice cream cone in the heat, or just kicking back with the AC blasting after a nice walk or bike ride. Another great record by a very awesome band. I can't wait to see what they do next. Highly recommended listening for your hazier moments. Go buy it here, then go check out the vintage clothing and record boutique that Aaron and Indra run in Madison called The Good Style Shop.

Sleep- Sleep's Holy Mountain

2011-03-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been realizing how much my listening habits change during periods of time when I'm frequently driving a car around. Since I generally find most of the music on the radio intolerable to say the least, that's usually not a viable option for me; this of course creates a situation in which I am at the mercy of whatever music hardware format a particular car's stereo face will accept. The best possibility is that the stereo will have an input into which I can plug my i-Pod (or at least that was the best possibility until my i-Pod was accidentally stolen by a very nice girl at a party, who despite the fact that it was plugged in and playing at the time, took it to prevent it from being stolen, then misplaced it while she was moving, in effect creating the exact same situation for me as if it were actually stolen). Otherwise, it's left up to either a tape deck or CD player to do the job. If I had a choice, I would always choose the tape deck. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is that I own considerably more cassettes than CDs; But the main reason is that I really dislike CDs. Despite the luxury of being able to skip from track to track, which is the only upside to this over rated format in my opinion, these two cent pieces of plastic have been the scourge of my existence for quite sometime. Honestly, can anyone reading this say they own a CD from the early nineties that still plays through all the way without issue? I doubt it; I certainly cannot. That's because CDs deteriorate with time, whether you play them or not! CD-Rs, of course, are even worse; some of my favorite releases of the past decade have been on CD-R and several of them I may never hear again because they rot even faster. Just think of all the music made available only on CD that will be gone forever in fifty to a hundred more years! It bums me out....like a lot.

So anyway, while my own motorized vehicle continues to rust disdainfully, fully visible from my kitchen window, I've lately been given somewhat steady access to two cars by people who are close to me. Suffice it to say, both have CD players in them. Despite my tangent in the last paragraph, I actually don't consider this to be that bad of a situation. I did after all grow up in the nineties, which means I have a shitload of CDs collecting dust in a box under my bed. Since I don't own a CD player (and since the i-Pod all my CDs were loaded onto is gone like so much wasted plastic) this has given me the opportunity to break out some old favorites from back in the day as well as spin some of the discs that reside in the cars I've been driving.

Without a doubt the album that's gotten more play in the car than any other is this stoner/doom rock classic from Sleep. Though this album was first released on Earache in 1992, I first came across Sleep sometime around the year 2000 after hearing their music in the film Gummo. After repeated viewings, a friend and I became obsessed with the movie's soundtrack, particularly the song in a scene towards the beginning in which two main characters ride their bikes down a street full of dilapidated houses in a fictionalized version of Xenia, Ohio (actually shot in the slums of north Nashville, I was on that street yesterday, and it still looks almost exactly the same). Eventually I ordered the Gummo soundtrack, and my friend and I discovered the identity of the mystery band and immediately ordered this album.

Already a Melvins fan for half a decade, and quite familiar at that point in my life with Black Sabbath and the idea of hardcore and punk derived 'sludge' rock such as Grief and Noothgrush (the latter being a band which was founded by a former member of Asbestosdeath, the band that proceeded Sleep), this was obviously the next step. Sleep effortlessly combined the crunch pioneered by Sabbath and later reinterpreted by the Melvins with the intensity of hardcore and the stellar musicianship typical of most seventies classic rock; add in drugged out, psychedelic vocals and lyrical themes seemingly indebted to a fascination with D&D style role playing games, and you have this album which is practically perfect. My friend and I jammed it pretty much non-stop for at least a year, if not longer, and more than once attempted to attach meaning to the group's absurd, pot addled lyrics ("but really dude, where is the valley of the evil one?"). Ah, to be young and idiotic...

If you're curious, the members of Sleep went on to form the bands High on Fire (a similar sounding, but in my opinion much less engaging band), and Om (a not very similar sounding, but nonetheless quite engaging band). I assume that most people who would like this record already do, but then my mother once told me something about making assumptions....so go check it out here.

Brainbombs- Urge to Kill

2011-03-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

It's strange, but the era in which we live seems to be one in which both everything and nothing is sacred. This means for example, that if a song is enjoyed by more than a few thousand people it will at some point inevitably played ad nauseam on commercial radio before being thrown into advertisements for tennis shoes and luxury cars, and then just generally milked until the point at which it not only feels nearly impossible to achieve or maintain any real connection with the damned thing, but also begins to give the feeling that it's impossible that anyone ever had a real connection with it (think Iggy Pop's 'The Passenger', the entire Dark Side of the Moon LP, and pretty much everything the Stones ever recorded).

On the other hand of course, this means that a long-forgotten band with virtually no following whatsoever can be re-discovered and then given the royal treatment by taste-making, culture revising indie labels who awkwardly hold up and herald their discoveries as engenius stalwarts, always far ahead of their time; it's a mixed blessing to say the least. The Brainbombs, out of Sweden, are kind of like one of those bands; the only things that really separate them from the others are the fact that in their case the taste-making label they're attached to, Load Records, has been releasing their records since the late nineties, and that for the last twenty five years, the band has remained constantly extant.

I've personally been seeing the Brainbombs' name around for several years, but never really did much about it until recently when I was being rushed out of a record store having only made it halfway through the B section of the LP's (I'd already scoured both the new and used bins of 7"s of course). Furiously, flipping as quickly as I could, looking for any piece of 12" vinyl which seemed the least bit appropriate to buy, I finally seized upon a re-issue of the Breeders' Pod, a record I love; sitting right behind it was Load's recent vinyl issue of the Brainbombs' 1999 album Urge To Kill. Without hesitation, I grabbed it as well and ran for the register, checking out in just the right amount of time to not be abandoned at the store.

On Urge to Kill, as well as in general, the Brainbombs traffic in a sort of slowed down, messier, detuned version of garage punk, comparable somewhat to other bands of the mid to late eighties (the Brainbombs were founded in 1985) with a similar slow, noisy sound such as Fang or Steel Pole Bathtub. The songs are often quite long by punk standards, often topping five minutes, and have few changes. The band is at their best in my opinion, when they beat a riff so hard into the ground for so long it sort of creates a trance like tension. Over the grinding pulse of the drums, bass, and gnarled guitar, a trumpeter belts out sour notes left and right and some asshole yells a lot about raping and murdering women.

Though this is a great record musically and I've enjoyed listening to it, all the stuff about rape and hurting women really turned me off. I normally try to keep to the policy that I should judge the art and not the artist; some people say that's bullshit, and I understand their point of view but I feel my politics lie in my personal choices and actions, not the music I listen to. Still, it's strange, I can watch violent movies all day long, listen to black metal made by (and for) racists, and even dig music insensitive to the plight of rape by other artists if I feel they're doing something especially unique (Whitehouse and the Geto Boys come to mind immediately), and it doesn't really bother me much; but something about the way the Brainbombs exploit rape really bums me out. It reminds me of the way boring death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse approach the subject, using it only for shock value, or shits and giggles, never bothering to consider whether or not their lyrics have anything to do with the tone of the music they're making, no real thought process behind it, just trotting out some uncreative bullshit because they think it will make them sound mean and tough. If you're going that route, why not just sing about children dying of cancer? It would at least be something new....

I guess that's not a very shining endorsement, but it is what it is. I don't really think it's my place to judge an artist personally on the basis of their art; all I'm doing on this blog (and all anyone does on any music blog for that matter) is giving subjective assessments of records that have entered my life through one facet or another; I prefer to remain truthful and have no interest in pretending to not have been into the music or bothered by the lyrical content on this record in order to save face. So there.

...anyway, if you can stomach the lyrical content and need a dose of totally discordant punk noise, I don't discourage you from checking it out here. If you want to buy the record or would like to write an angry letter, go here.

The Velvet Underground- White Light/White Heat

2011-03-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

This one is a CD that lives in the other car I often drive, (the one without the Sleep CD), and man, what a great record. In my little piece on The Index last month I made the comment that the music they were making on their self titled debut probably didn't have a very large or loyal audience at the time; regardless of the fact that WL/WH reached a considerably larger audience upon release during the same time period and has now become considered a legit 'classic' (even in the eyes of the worst, most played out 'music' publication of all time), the mutant weirdness the VU was blasting on this platter was even less accessible, substantially so in fact. I would guess that even a lot of folks that consider themselves VU fans can't handle this monster.

This is the record I always think of when bands like the Strokes get compared to the VU, or claim them as an influence. I immediately wonder if they've even heard this record...Just imagine what would happen if the Strokes released a record containing even a tenth of the insanity on this album; people would fucking lose it, and no one would get it.

Though I do enjoy the Velvet Underground and Nico, as well as Lou Reed's first few solo records, I'm not a fan of much of anything the VU did after this (no John Cale? no thanks), and if it weren't for this record I really don't think I would care nearly as much about this band as I do. This is seriously about as out there as 'rock' music gets even still today, it's every single inch covered by obscenely noisy distortion and feedback, gloriously crude lyrics, and enough weirdness to outdo the rest of the band's entire studio recorded output; and the fucking thing came out over forty years ago. Beyond genius. Perfect

If you haven't heard this album, you absolutely must do so as soon as humanly possible, though I'm not including a link for this one since you can find it just about anywhere that sells music, other than maybe Wal-Mart (which is fine because you shouldn't be buying music there anyway).

Pax Titania- Cult of the Colonist

2011-03-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, the world of short run underground noise cassettes doesn't often tend to spawn too many 'classics', at least not in any traditionally agreed-upon sense of the word. This tape however, initially released several years ago by Hanson Records (the label run by former Wolf Eyes member and current globe trotting esoteric weirdo Aaron Dilloway) may be an exception. The fact that it's been kept in print for nearly half a decade is a testament to the quality of the release.

Pax Titania is a dude named Chris who lives in either Florida or Kentucky and makes music on an insane synth modulator that he built himself. The results are definitely out there, yet surprisingly tuneful and make me think of the type of music people probably imagined would be popular at this point in time during the 70s or 80s; all swirling ambience and pseudo-futuristic sounding arpeggios producing alien melodies from unfamiliar sounds. The noise tag (Hanson is after all, most definitely if nothing else, a noise label) doesn't really fit this very well, as I would say it's far too groovy for that...the most obvious and recognizable reference point for this music would probably be the tradition of minimalist composition, though I can't think of any particular artist this stuff reminds me of (which is likely due to the fact that I don't know much about the history of minimalist composition). Sometimes it seems almost danceable, but only in fleeting moments.

If the idea of 'noise' music has always sort of fascinated you but put you off because you always thought it would just be, well, a bunch of noise, you should definitely check this stuff out, as it is significantly more interesting than what you're imagining. Buy it here now!

Bird Names- Sings the Browns

2011-03-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

Once again, Bird Names makes my list. I do have to admit that this has a lot to do with the whole car CD player thing I was discussing earlier (it lives in the car with the VU CD), though that doesn't mean this isn't a great record...this might even be my favorite Bird Names album...it's at least in the Top 3 for sure (they have like 8 now I think)...(For a general, yet fairly vague, description of the band's sound and my feelings on it, please refer to last month's post).

If Metabloism is Bird Names' beach spy record, then this one is like the soundtrack to a musical about mid 20th century coal miners who happen upon a Hansel and Gretal style candy-house and then have adventures involving break dancing skeletons in business suits and giants juggling children juggling swords...pop music too bizarre to comprehend, but certainly too rare to dismiss.

I guess other people just call it psychedelic pop; but I like my description much better. Pretty much everything they've ever done is fantastic, so go buy all their shit here.

Christine 23 Onna- Acid Eater

2011-03-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

So, this is an interesting one, legendary Japanese noise guy Masonna (hence the 'onna') has this project where he and a collaborator jam out 60s and 70s style go-go music (as in the type go-go dancers would shake to) and then layer/obliterate it with psychedelic noise. Simple description, but that's pretty much it really... I think it's pretty damn cool, it's been a record I put on when I got to bed for awhile, but it would also work at a party, assuming it wasn't packed with squares that is...I would think that most people would probably either really dig this or hate it...check it out here out and see what you think.

45 Grave- Black Cross 7"

2011-03-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

Though it seems they're generally remembered as a sort of, gothy, death rock-type band (mostly due to the tone of their debut album Sleep in Safety), LA's 45 Grave actually had several different phases; I would say that they're quite notable for being probably the only LA group, which was a part, however marginally, of Hollywood's late 70s pre-hardcore punk scene, the much more musically damaged LAFMS (Los Angeles Free Music Society) scene, and the hair metal scene of Hollywood in the mid-80s. Not that all those groups existed in vacuums; reality is of course always more complex than that, but I can't think of any other musicians involved with the LAFMS that went on to some success as poodle-haired party animals the way this band did...in a way, it's actually pretty impressive...

This single was the group's first release after their appearance on the LAFMS comp. Darker Skratcher. The A-side is a great mid-tempo track which always reminds me of how much creativity can be thrown into the standard 'melodic punk' formula, if the goal is actually to try to make the song good rather than to try and make it sound like some other band; the song is populated by all kinds of weird stop/start parts and noisy breakdowns, and of course there are the awesome vocals of Dinah Cancer, in my opinion one of punk's most underrated female vocalists. The B-side track, Wax, is a slower, more plodding sort of affair, punctuated by short thrashy outbursts, strange Eastern sounding guitar leads, and lots of cowbell. I guess some people consider this song to be a metal tinged goth song, but to me it just sounds like a punk band playing something interesting in the time before punk began to mean only one thing to a bunch of assholes.

I suppose this record isn't essential listening or anything, but it's one I really enjoy for its unique vibe and style. Check it out here.

The Vaselines- The Way of the Vaselines

2011-03-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

Thank the lord for Kurt Cobain; if not for him we (see: most everyone) may never have learned of the music of the Vaselines, a band in my mind, that got as close to indie-pop perfection as anyone has ever come. Generally I don't even really care for what's tagged as indie-pop most of the time, but the catchy, sugary sweet songs of Frances McKee and Eugene Kelly (or at least a generous handful of them) are undeniably irresistible. This collection compiles both of the band's 7" EPs as well as their first album, Dum Dum, all originally released in the late 80s.

I first came into contact with the Vaselines, I suspect like many, when aforementioned Vaselines uber-fan Kurt Cobain's band (what were they called again?) included covers of two of their songs (Son of a Gun and Molly's Lips) on their b-sides collection, Insecticide (or something like that). Cobain always said he appreciated the music of the Vaselines because of it's child-like qualities, and that makes a lot of sense to me. Perhaps the reason I don't generally care for what is thought of as indie-pop is because the term brings to mind boring and utterly adult seeming bands like TV on the Radio, The Arcade Fire, or the Decemberists...I am an adult of course, but whatever those bands are doing speaks absolutely nothing to me; the Vaselines on the other hand come off as naively sweet and very warm, the complete opposite of what I think of when I think of bad adult 'indie pop'.

While the the cover versions weren't terrible, they really can't compare with the real thing, as Nirvana chose to buzz quickly through both tracks sounding not unlike a mediocre pop punk band in the process and losing pretty much all that was subtle about the originals. Son of a Gun for example, features, a false 'hard rock' intro, understated piano melodies, and fabulous male/female harmonizing among other things that were skipped over in the cover. I'm not complaining, or calling the cover version bad, I'm just saying if that's all you've heard, you're really missing out.

While not every track on this is a winner (I'm not a fan of their cover of Divine's You Think You're a Man, and several of the songs from the Dum Dum LP sound more like a cocky garage band than a jangly love-in) songs like the two previously mentioned, Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam (also covered by you know who), The Day I Was a Horse, Monsterpussy, and Rory Rides Me Raw are near-perfect pop gems.

I guess this release is actually a bit out of date, as a couple of years back, Sub Pop released the triple LP set Enter the Vaselines, which features everything included on this collection (which was originally issued only on CD) as well as demos and live songs from the band's heyday. If that wasn't enough, the band just released their second proper album, and first in over twenty years, Sex With an X (oh yeah, did I mention they're really into sexual double entendres? well, they are) also on Sub Pop.

You can, and I suggest you do, go buy their shit here.

February Top 10 List

2011-02-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

1.   Dead Reptile Shrine- Burning Black Infinity
2.   Bird Names- Metabolism: A Salute to the Energy of the Sun
3.   The Index s/t LP
4.   Dark Day- Trapped EP
5.   Nenavist- s/t cassette
6.   Negazione- Tutti Pazzi EP
7.   Nude Sunrise- So Far

8. CCR Headcleaner- Uppers and Downers

9. Killing Joke- what's THIS for...!

10. Confuse- Spending Loud Night EP

Dead Reptile Shrine- Burning Black Infinity

2011-02-18T20:36:00.000-08:00

Easily my favorite band of the last few months, DRS is theoretically a black metal band, though I would guess that their ties to the larger black metal milieu are tenuous at best. Most often they come off sounding like a group of well meaning teenage headbangers who haven't really mastered their instruments yet...terrible off time drumming, unbelievable out of tune riffing, and vocals often so ridiculously shrill and out of key they may actually cause you to spew anything you may be drinking across the room....kinda like a black metal version of the Shaggs or something. Other times they sound like a very evil folk group. The vocals are almost always unbearable. However, like the Shaggs, there is no ironic joke to be in on; the music is real and has real effort and real heart behind it...it just misses the mark by about a mile.

Personally, I love them for reasons that have nothing to do with how 'silly' they are; while I can appreciate that aspect of it to a degree, what really grabs me about this band is the totally un-phased and confident attitude they obviously have regarding their music. At this point they must have realized that their records are extremely, shall we say, 'unique' in the world of black metal, and surely they are aware of having been labeled as 'outsider metal', 'damaged', and even 'retarded' by some reviewers...yet they continue on, expressing themselves the only way they know how; a pure manifestation of misanthropic teenage ineptness. What could be more beautiful?

The thing is though, is that this is their fourth full length album in ten years, which means they can't be teenagers; also I keep saying they but it's actually just one guy up in Finland somewhere recording this stuff presumably on his 4-track at home alone. Right now he's probably in his room, drinkin' orange soda, worshiping Satan, eating beans outta the can, watching sitcom re-runs, maybe casting some spells...maybe droppin' some laundry off with Mom....

anyways, I think I can sum up the appeal of Dead Reptile Shrine by pointing out what they have in common with a group like Pussy Galore or even Three 6 Mafia, and that is the ability to approach extremely absurd premises with extreme seriousness of demeanor. If there were anything at all intentionally tongue in cheek about this band, I would be quite surprised. This guys feels it, like hard and it really comes through. I have no doubt that he is truly as passionate as anyone possibly could be about Satan and forests, and it may sound silly, but for me, hearing someone express themselves so deeply and truly regarding subjects I tend to consider overused and played out can actually be quite moving.

It's also worth noting that despite my rambling on about how unmusical they are, on their last record, A Journey Through the Darkest of Forests, DRS started to pepper their terrain with a bit more technique. This album as well shows advancement. The boneheaded jams are still plenty in number, but the killer track on this one has gotta be Skull Crushing Avenger. Featuring multi-panned swirling background solos, Native American style chanting, and gloom and malice for days, this track shows what DRS is truly capable of. I suggest you start paying attention.

Currently available as a gorgeous gatefold DBL LP here.

Bird Names- Metabolism: A Salute to the Energy of the Sun

2011-02-18T19:30:00.000-08:00

A "pop" band, or so they claim (I think 'highly adept bubblegum decontructionism' is a much more apt description), the 'Names specialize in idiosyncratic musical transmissions which both embrace and explode traditional notions of playfulness and pop-structure. They are one of my favorite bands and have been for several years.

Luckily, one thing you will never get on a Bird Names record is filler. All of their records are jam packed with tightly composed and executed songs which usually flow together seamlessly to create a larger work. This is actually quite a feat considering the dizzying changes and instrumentation often utilized by the band. Imagine white jazz, twee pop, sea shantys, surf rock, western swing, afrobeat, psych, childrens music, prog rock, and vaudeville (not to mention a bunch of other unidentifiable minutia) all kind of hanging out together intermingling. It's quite a sight, or sound I guess you would say.

This particular record, their newest, finds the Bird Names on an accidental spy mission in some haunted lakeside resort in 1942. They start out amicably enough, strolling around the lake, skipping stones, staring into each others eyes; soon however a mystery presents itself and before they know it they've had their drinks drugged and are drifting with great purpose to some bizarre nucleus which holds all the answers. Will they reach it? Does it matter?

I'm aware that I didn't really give any actual description of the music in that last paragraph...but just calling it psychedelic pop really does not do it justice...A mind blowing record for sure. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to hear extremely weird music without a bunch of yelling and screechy feedback!

Check it out here.

The Index s/t LP

2011-02-18T18:39:00.000-08:00

Ultra-obscure late 1960s garage psych from Michigan. This was their first record (only record?), and if what I've heard is true, only one hundred copies of it were ever pressed making it a sort of holy grail for collectors. I guess digital copies of it been have circulating around the net for at least five years, but I was just recently made aware of it through one of my favorite websites, shit-fi.

The album features a selection of original tunes, instrumentals, and covers and there's not a stinker among them. The songwriting is in the folk/rock variety comparable to perhaps the Kinks or the Yardbirds but played in a kind of 'shambling' fashion and filtered through massively thick layers of reverb shimmy. The result is some very off-kilter music that often sounds very dark in tone and as if it's being played in slow motion. It's been pointed out before that, though the band is all male, the vocals are very comparable in style to Nico, and I can't disagree; they are quite deep and often sound as though they are being sung against the music rather than with it. The instrumentals all rip pretty hard managing to sound both discordant and bluesy (Turquoise Fe sounds like a bar band jamming really hard on 'ludes; Feedback sounds like that same band having a very bad trip). The covers range from the inspired (traditional English ballad John Riley) to the absurd (the Supremes' You Keep Me Hangin' On), but are always interesting.

It's pretty tough to imagine what these guys were thinking when they recorded this back in 1967 or '68, but I have to assume that they loved playing together as I would guess the audience for this music during that time was small at best, if not altogether non-existent. According to FM Shades the band gave away most of the albums they pressed to their friends, and original copies now fetch around three-grand (!). Hopefully there will be a quality reissue in the future. Until then, get it here.

Dark Day- Trapped EP

2011-02-18T17:41:00.000-08:00

At some point earlier this year the mental dam broke for me and I decided I could no longer live without owning both of the No Wave books (here and here) published way back in 2008. Though I was already familiar with most of the artists covered in both books (the No New York bands, Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham, Lydia Lunch, Bush Tetras, etc.) and I really enjoyed reading about those artists, my favorite thing about the books, and the main reason I bought them, was the opportunity to dig a little deeper and find out about some of the artists in that scene that don't get discussed as much. I really enjoyed finding out about bands like Y-Pants and Ut, and I may soon be writing about them, but my favorite band that the books turned me onto was Dark Day.

Dark Day was the project of former DNA keyboard player Robin Crutchfield after he quit the band in part due to it's increasingly chaotic direction. In sharp contrast, Dark Day pursued a sound that was painstakingly composed and carefully executed. Deviating from the guitar heavy sound of his peers and former bandmates, Crutchfield chose instead to put the synth out front, leaving the guitars either buried in the background or used sparsely to build rhythms with the synth. This, combined with live drums and Crutchfield's melodramatic vocal style gave the music a very goth-y type feel too it, very dark but still sort of groovy and danceable at times.

In addition to the musical differences between Crutchfield and other no wave bands, Dark Day also tended to have a much more personal feel to their music than their contemporaries. While many no wave artists claim to have been purging from deep within to find their musical directions, the feelings being expressed were often abstracted to the point of obliteration. Crutchfield's lyrics on the other hand often focused quite obviously on feelings of alienation, sorrow, and longing.

This particular record, released in 1981, is my favorite of all the material I've heard by the band, and is supposedly also among Crutchfield's favorite releases. Sort of a concept record (not in the storytelling sense), it consists of only the nearly eight minute title track on the a-side and six short remixes of the title track on the b-side; while it's interesting to hear the different ways the band 'exterminate' the song in the remixes, the real attraction here is the song itself. Likely as close to 'epic' as the band ever got,Trapped, with its creepy, sweeping synth melodies, dissonant, buried guitars, plinking pianos, and claustrophobic lyrics is, in my opinion at least, a near perfect distillation of the bands sound.

Previously unbeknownst to me, it appears Robin Crutchfield has been quite busy lately as well, releasing several albums in the past few years that you can check out here. I haven't heard any of them, but I think it's about time I did pretty soon. In the meantime, you can grab the Trapped EP here.

Nenavist- s/t cassette

2011-02-18T16:42:00.000-08:00

I ordered this tape by Bulgarian black metallers Nenavist along with some others from the Cocainacopia distro awhile back. Though I love Cocainacopia for being, by far, the most reliable metal mailorder I've ever dealt with, they aren't too big on descriptions of the music they are selling. The description for this tape, for example, was simply: "debut album now available on cassette". So, when I get ready to drop some cash on black metal, I usually have to spend a few hours researching and trying to figure out the specific meanings of ambiguous adjectives used to describe black metal over and over again such as raw, depressive, evil, bizarre, pagan, etc. Though it can at times be a bit annoying, I kind of also dig the no description / brief description thing; it reminds me of ordering hardcore records by bands I'd never heard of as a teenager on the basis of descriptions that were just as ambiguous such as "fast as fuck thrash" or "killer metallic crust".

Anyway, I don't really remember what I read about this band that made me interested in them (though I know it wasn't the silly description provided by Wraith Productions, the label that released the CD version of the album) but somehow, I wound up ordering their tape, and I'm glad I did. What we have here is some very fuzzy, lurching, mid-paced black metal with reverby vocals that sounds like it was recorded in a garbage can the size of a grain silo. The style in which the songs are composed isn't necessarily that unique (sorta sounds like a crappier version of Burzum) but the execution makes it incredible. I mentioned a moment ago that most of the album is mid-paced, but what I didn't mention is that the reason the group often sound mid-paced is that the drummer, instead of matching the speed of the guitar parts, usually plays half time to the manically fast riffs. At several points on the album, the drums and guitar slowly drift out of sync with one another, eventually becoming completely disconnected, and sometimes, briefly creating this kind of awful anti-musical headache trance vibe where everything just sounds like it's being blasted in opposite directions, the guitar and drums refusing to coalesce. I have their second album downloaded but haven't checked it out yet. As long as they didn't try to make it sound any better than this, I'm sure I'll love it.

Get the tape from Cocainacopia.

Negazione- Tutti Pazzi EP

2011-02-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

Fantastic, insane hardcore from Italy. This EP is from 1985; the title apparently translates loosely to "everybody's crazy", and it's quite apt. From the moment this starts, it seems obvious that the level of intensity that these dudes maintained was way over the top for their time. You can almost see the veins about to burst in their foreheads when you listen to this.

While most of the tracks are fast and brief, the band shines most, in my opinion, on the mid-paced burner Niente. I'm not usually a fan of guitar leads, especially in punk, but this song is full of some of the most twisted, gnarled leads I've ever heard. Played on what sounds like a broken or detuned guitar, every wrong note is forced into place creating a sort of off-key circular melody. It's actually just a simple back and forth riff, but the dizzying effect it creates seems mighty advanced for a group of ordinary young punkers.

This band had a ton of other releases I'm still lookin' in to, this one just happened to be the first one I checked out after being blown away by a track they had on the Emma comp from 1986. I couldn't tell you if this is the best place to start with this band, but it worked for me. Get it here.

Nude Sunrise- So Far (2010 Tour CD-R)

2011-02-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

Every since I started going to smaller shows when I was a kid, my favorite way of learning about new bands has been to see them live with no expectation whatsoever, often having never or just barely heard of them, and have my mind blown. The bands and artists that accomplish this tend to stick in my head the most and often greatly influence my listening habits as by following them, I will inevitably become aware of any small labels or other bands they are associated with, influenced by, etc. I feel fortunate that the list of artists that have fallen into this category for me is a pretty long one. Off the top of my head, Hickey, XBXRX, the Sic Alps, Blues Control, Byron House, Mincemeat or Tenspeed, Kyle Mabson, Temple of Bon Matin, Ed Schrader, and Occasional Detroit all make the list. And as of last summer so does Chicago psych rock trio Nude Sunrise.

Weirdly enough, the night I saw Nude Sunrise was actually a very long and stressful one. They were touring with Teaadora Nikolova and scheduled to play in a friend's basement. I'd never heard of them or Teaadora until earlier that week, but I was assured by the friend that set the show up that I would dig them. Unfortunately, somehow two ska-punk bands got jumped onto an already over-crowded bill and wound up playing forever and delaying the sets of the bands my friend was so certain I would enjoy for what seemed like hours. When Nude Sunrise finally got started it was almost 3 AM and if it hadn't been for the quality of the third act on their tour, Names Divine who played before the ska bands, I probably would not have stuck around.

Luckily, I did of course stick around and watched Nude Sunrise play an amazing set of southern-rock tinged, swirling, psych. With dueling guitar lines, soaring crescendos, and enough delay and reverb to bring Phil Spector to his knees, the band quickly destroyed any doubts anyone in the audience may have had about sticking around so late. Amazingly, the band managed to facilitate a very relaxed vibe, even when the tunes they were playing were very densely layered and 'wall of fuzz' sounding. Naturally I quickly snapped up all the merch I could get from them including this CD-R which contains their first cassette release 'Hunks Like Us' as well as, I believe, some demos that were recorded prior to the sessions for the cassette release.

I was quite pleased to find out that the recordings are also really, really good. Retaining a unique and consistent aesthetic throughout, the band cruises through a few different moods, sometimes sounding very mellow, almost romantic, and at other times sounding very much like a geared up party band. Since the band doesn't have a drummer, they frequently rely on triggered beats to carry the songs, something that sometimes bugs me if it sounds a certain way, but even this is usually very well executed.

It's strange, there is really nothing retro about this band, they certainly have their own distinctive sound, yet their music still often makes me think of a more abstract post-modern take on that sort of Dazed and Confused, teenagers cruising around and getting high in the70s vibe. Maybe it's the long hair. Anyway, this is really great stuff from a band that's just coming up, and very much worth your attention.

Check them out here.

CCR Headcleaner- Uppers and Downers

2011-02-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

CCR Headcleaner are another band I caught live without any expectation of what they sounded like. If you want to read my spiel about how much I love it when this happens, check out the section on Nude Sunrise above. I can't quite remember why I ended up at this show in the first place, but I know there had to be a reason as it was in Nashville, and I never go to Nashville for shows without a good reason. Maybe a friend of mine was playing? Anyway, it doesn't matter, I'm just very glad I went as CCRH's set was nothing short of amazing.

From what I understand, CCRH is made up of three quarters of the now defunct Athens, GA based psych band Long Legged Woman, who were also quite amazing, though had a very different vibe. While LLW was definitely way out there in terms of their level of psychedelic weirdness, their songwriting style was often reminiscent of 80s style indie rock producing a sound perhaps comparable to early Dinosaur Jr., but way more fucked up. I would even go so far as to say that amidst the chaos, LLW's sound could sometimes be considered 'warm'.

Maybe it was the move to the Bay Area, or maybe they just traded in their Replacements CDs for Discharge records, but whatever happened, the band I saw that night had way more in common with crust punk and Sabbath influenced sludge rock than anything resembling warmth. What really made them interesting though, was the fact that the psychedelic elements were kept firmly intact producing a style so strange and unique I wondered if it even existed before these guys started doing it. I was absolutely blown away.

Strangely enough, this album displays little of that sound (it can be heard quite prominently however on the 'Live at WNYU' EP, which I will no doubt be discussing here very soon) or of the sound LLW were known for. Instead the sound here mostly consists of totally over the top guitar / vocal meditations which at times remind me of a more aggressive, badly recorded mid-period Black Dice.

There are of course some occasional traces of the band I saw that night, as well as of their former band's bright and poppy songwriting style, though the latter moments are decidedly way noisier than anything I've ever heard by LLW. I suppose it's possible they played several of these songs when I saw them and I just don't remember them because I was so taken by the thrash elements and because it's been so long (over a year). At this point, it's impossible to tell. This record however stands firmly on it's own and presents a very bizarre young band blasting weird for the weirdos. If that includes you, this record is definitely worth your time.

They used to have a website with tons of free downloads which is where I got this, but it appears to be down. You can check them out on myspace here.

Killing Joke- what's THIS for...!

2011-02-18T12:30:00.000-08:00

What can I say about Killing Joke that hasn't already been said much more eloquently than I can manage? Probably nothing, but shit I love this band. The style they cultivated was so original, both danceable and foreboding, sounding something like Gang of Four's bigger, much meaner brother. To this day I'm unaware of any band that has made music combining tight grooves and aggression the way these guys did. Nine Inch Nails you say? I don't think so.

This record, their second full length, sees the band moving into less harsh territory than their debut, though just barely. The guitars are still very tinny and the beats are still pounded out in odd patterns so monotonous they become hypnotic. The overall effect is a sound that often manages to somehow seem heavily layered and stripped down simultaneously and is so repetitive it's almost nauseating.

Pre-dating the genre of industrial music as it's thought of today by almost a decade, I wouldn't think it at all a stretch to claim that the industrial genre likely owes much more to KJ than Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire combined. While that may not seem like something to brag about, it's important to keep in mind that what was adapted from KJ by the artists that would begin to receive the 'industrial' tag in the early 90s really isn't any particular part of their sound, but instead the idea that mechanical sounds previously considered non-musical can be altered to produce unique rhythms. As we now know, many artists have used this idea for evil rather than good (Rammstein anyone?); but the fact that such bands can't hold a candle to this record, which is now thirty years old, is a testament to how great this music really is.

Think about it like this: while latter day industrial bands almost always attempt to feign toughness in order to come across as intimidating, Killing Joke never did because they never had to; their sound was tough enough to intimidate on it's own.
Check it out here, then buy the re-mastered special edition import DBL LP with bonus tracks here.

Confuse- Spending Loud Night EP

2011-02-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

Confuse were a totally beyond fucked up hardcore band from Japan active in the 1980s. This particular record was recorded in 1983 (though not released until four years later) which is amazing, as these songs are buried in so much fuzz and hiss, that at first listen it sounds almost completely incomprehensible. I can't even begin to imagine how people reacted to this when it was first released. Basically, it's about as out there as any hardcore band can get and still be considered a hardcore band, and let me tell you, it fucking kills.

Though amazing in their own right, except for the overbearing amount of insanely noisy guitar, the tone of the first few tracks isn't too dissimilar from other Japanese hardcore bands of the 80s: fast as shit, hoarse vocals, and a vibe that despite being obviously aggressive, also somehow seems to come across, to me anyway, as fun loving and playful.

But the real gem here is the title track. Forgoing all characteristics of the previous tracks except for the hoarse vocals (and that nutty guitar tone of course), Spending Loud Night appears to be some odd attempt at making heartfelt pop music, complete with a brief spoken introduction, sweeping (almost) melodic chorus, and psychedelic guitars. Weird doesn't even begin to describe it. It must be heard to be believed, and I highly recommend listening on headphones for maximum bizarro effect. But be very aware of what you're getting into, as this is absolutely the last record you would ever want blasting too loudly directly into your ears. Seriously. Get it here.

It's worth noting that this is another record I was tipped off about through the fantastic shit-fi website. I could probably go on about that site forever, and in fact may do so at some point, but until then, you should probably just go check it out for yourself.

Greetings

2011-02-17T23:32:00.000-08:00

Hello, and welcome to Private Leisure. Though this blog shares part of it's name with the independent label I run with my friends, Private Leisure Industries which you can check out here, the blog at least for now, will have little to no direct association with the label except for the fact that I'm behind them both. I just decided to start this blog because I enjoy writing about music.

As of now, I have no real ambition to do anything with this blog except to write about ten records each month. All it really means for a record to make the list is that I've listened to it and enjoyed it more than a couple of times in the last month. Though the records will be ordered from one to ten in each new post, the rankings are somewhat arbitrary. I chose to use the "Top 10" format because I really enjoy making lists and also in order to create a specific point for myself at which I can be done writing for the month, as attempting to write about every record I listened to in a month would be too daunting. Once a record appears on one list, it won't reappear on another even if I jammed it more than any other record on the list that month, otherwise, this shit could get repetitive real quick.

My tastes tend to lean toward the obtuse, the obscure, and often the incompetent as I'm much more interested in the feeling that's put in to and which comes out of music than I am in any traditional concept of 'talent' or what is good.

Generally I'm quite uninterested in any type of intentionally revivalist or retro music as well as most music that is made specifically to appeal to the broadest audience possible. My feeling is that if you're serious about making art of any sort, then you should be trying to move creatively beyond what's been done in the past. In short, I usually tend to regard artists who are only interested in creating within rigid, predefined parameters of genre or style as bland and uncreative.

If you think that makes me an 'elitist' or a 'music snob', that's fine; I'd much rather be thought of as an elitist, or a hipster, or a music snob, or whatever, because of the fact that I've thought about something enough to be able to confidently state my opinion on it than to be trapped in the confused and ambivalent mindset I have witnessed in individuals who really don't seem to know what they like or why they like it.

Really, I'm just a person that loves music and enjoys writing about it; if I tend to come off sometimes as an asshole with way too many opinions, it's only because I actually care about what I'm talking about.

That's it for now. Thanks, and enjoy the show.